THE BLUEPRINT

My Brother's Keeper, a White House initiative that branched off in 2015 as a nonprofit organization known as MBK Alliance, will merge with the Obama Foundation!

The initiative was run by Michael Smith who is now the acting director of the MBK Alliance and also works on Youth Opportunity Programs for the Obama Foundation. With this overlap in work it made sense to "fold MBK into the Obama Foundation."

This merger is in resemblance to our very own merger between MBK Houston and the Office of Youth and Adolescent Health (4YouthVoice) which is now known as the Bureau of Youth and Adolescent Health (BYAH).

The Houston Basics are five fun, simple and powerful ways to help all our children become the happiest and most successful they can be.

Maximize Love, Manage Stress

Talk, Sing, Point

Count, Group, & Compare

Explore through Movement & Play

Read & Discuss

80% of brain growth happens in the first three years after birth. That's why the Houston Basics Campaign is working to make sure that every parent and caregiver knows what they can do to make the most of this opportunity to give the infants and toddlers they love a great start in life. Please help spread the word be sharing our Houston Basics YouTube series!

This past summer we provided a unique opportunity for more than 100 children in south Houston as they attended the HYPE Freedom School (HFS) Program, designed by the Children's Defense Fund Freedom Schools' model aimed at combating "summer slide" and accelerating academic achievement. Engaging literacy-based activities are centered on five essential components:

High quality academic enrichment

Parent and family involvement

Civic engagement and social action

Inter-generational leadership development

Nutrition, health and mental health

"At Hype, scholars are able to gain an appreciation and love for learning so they can return to school prepared and motivated to always do their best,"says Brandi Brown, executive director for HYPE Freedom Schools, Inc.According to the Children's Defense Fund National Assessment, children who participated in the 2015 HYPE program improved their reading level by an average of seven months during the six-week period!

"We are proud to provide financial support to HYPE Freedom Schools, Inc., to ensure that children have access to high-quality summer learning programs that are centered on strong reading skill-building,"Kristi Rangel, Public Health Education Chief, Houston Health Department

Since the launch of Read Houston Read in 2014, the literacy program has paired volunteers with district first-graders to share a book. For one hour once a week, volunteers help bolster student confidence and encourage a love of reading.Please take a few minutes to sign up as a Read Houston Read volunteer! You can choose to be an in-person volunteer working with two students for an hour each week or become an online volunteer and spend 30 minutes on a computer working with one student.If you have friends or family who might be interested in volunteering, encourage them to volunteer as well. One hour, once a week, can change someone's life!

ThisNASA Engineering Design Challengeprovides an opportunity to assess students' development of critical thinking skills in a context
in which these skills are applied throughout the task. Students are often asked to perform
critical thinking tasks only after they have mastered such lower-level thinking skills
as making simple inferences, organizing, and ranking.

In this learning activity, various levels of thinking skills are integrated. The following rubric is designed to assist you in assessing students' mastery of thinking skills.

This is another opportunity for students to hone their critical and application skills so that they are more prepared to graduate high school, prepared for college and skills.

Young Invincibles invited MBK Houston, Project Grad, Wesley and folks at HCC to participate in a hour long live Twitter chat that involved answering 9 questions related to workforce development for millenials. Young Invincibles Southern Partnerships Manager Aurora Harris reported we had:

CDC: Youth Violence Prevention Training & Technical Assistance Initiative (YVP TTA)
The STRYVE (Striving to Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere) grant has allowed Houston to engage in YVP (Youth Violence Prevention) since 2011. In 2014 those efforts were expanded through MBK who "continues the STRYVE work and adds a strong evaluation component. Because of the national attention and funding associated with it, MBK has elevated recognition for YVP efforts in Houston.

[MBK's Milestone 6] engages multisector leadership in YVP through a collective impact framework that includes a common agenda, shared measurements, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and backbone support. Aaron Cano, lead for the YVP TTA Initiative in the HHD Director's office, also serves as a lead for Milestone 6 and as liason between Milestone 5."

The Youth Violence Prevention TTA Center staff will give support and technical assistance to our Youth Justice Council this year!

CPTED is a multi-disciplinary approach to deterring criminal behavior through environmental design. The principles of design affect elements of the urbanized, built environment ranging from the small-scale (such as the strategic use of shrubbery and other vegetation) to the overarching, including building form of an entire urban neighborhood and the amount of opportunity for "eyes on the street."

What is the secret to CPTED?Design that eliminates or reduces criminal behavior and at the same time encourages people to"keep an eye out" for each other. These are just a few of the ingredients that go into creating an effective CPTED environment which is conducive to a safer more livable community.

Houston Coalition Against Hate (HCAH)On August 16, 2017 MBK Houston joined the Houston Coalition Against Hate and many other communities around the country in condemning the message of white supremacist groups during the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the violence that was engendered.We join the many voices around the nation in denouncing the hatred we saw on display, recognizing that this tragedy is not an isolated incident, but rather the manifestation of centuries of systemic violence, racism, and anti-semitism in this country. We send our condolences to the families of Heather Heyer, Jay Cullen and Berke M Bares, and we hold in our hearts those who were injured while standing up to injustice.

Special News: Harvey Relief

Disaster Relief for Teachers

Harvey Relief Gallery

Harvey Hotdog

Teachers Aid was able to help give free school supplies to all teachers in an 18-county service area. Today (9/22) is the last day to pick up! Register below, and remember your School ID is Required for entry and go to 8353 East Freeway Houston, TX 77029 2:00 - 8:00 pm.

Houston Health Department staff were activated to assist in Harvey relief efforts at the GRB and Toyota Center locations.A lot of our BYAH staff were able to help with service linkage, free transportation, passing out
1000 free hotdogs and locating temporary housing through FEMA approved hotels or AirBnB houses.
View Harvey Gallery →

The owner of That's My Dog was determined to keep his promise to God and give out 1000 hotdogs at GRB if his house in Katy was unaffected by Harvey. His team and some BYAH members worked alongside RedCross during a Friday lunch rush and handed out all-beef hotdogs topped with a layer of smoked brisket drizzled with homemade BBQ sauce.

Writers work with k-12 students in schools, community centers, and other residencies to share their love of writing and reading and to empower kids to tell their own stories. WITS writers work approximately 2-6 hours each week from September-May.Learn more →

Just A Few Reminders

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More events can be found on our website and Facebook events page. If you have any recommendations, questions or concerns please feel free to email us at mbkhouston@houstontx.org!